Blog Entry #5

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

Written by Eric Litwin

Illustrated by James Dean

HarperCollins Publishers, 2008

32 pages

Fiction

            I chose this book because I loved Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. I thought it was a great book with a really cool character, Pete the Cat. It is a very popular selection at book fairs, libraries, and elementary schools. Pete the Cat loves his white shoes and everywhere he goes he keeps stepping in something that changes the color of his shoes. He does not mind. He just keeps on strolling along and singing his song. Last, he steps in a bucket of water and ends up in wet, white shoes. No matter what Pete stepped in, it was all good, and he still loved his shoes.

            The media in this book was painting using watercolors and drawing in pen. There are a lot of primary colors used in this book. The illustrator uses a lot of blue in the outdoor backgrounds and in general. He also used yellow, green, red, orange, green, brown and gray. The illustrations in Pete the Cat are very colorful which matches the personality of the book. The watercolor paints soften the dimension of the colors so they are not so bright.

            This book would be best used in a kindergarten class. First and second graders may enjoy reading this, it is such a fun book, and would be great for a beginning reader. I had this in mind for a kindergarten class, because it would be such an easy way to learn colors. This book has a song with a very catchy tune that is easy to remember. The teacher could read this book aloud before an activity to learn the colors white, red, blue and brown. This book has no awards or honors but was a bestseller.